


new horizons

by umji



Category: PRISTIN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Merpeople, Aquariums, F/F, Light Angst, Yebin's Shenanigans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-07
Updated: 2017-07-28
Packaged: 2018-11-21 15:15:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,284
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11360073
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/umji/pseuds/umji
Summary: A face appeared in the water - one that wasn’t her own reflection - and Eunwoo screamed, jumping back.(in which eunwoo gets the fright of her life and yebin is just excited to be on land)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> this is the first time i've attempted a chaptered fic in a long time... i have planned it all out, but i make no promises in regards to speedy updates, i have a couple of other fic obligations to work on atm

It was late. 

Eunwoo had spent most of the day in the backrooms of the aquarium tending to the baby cuttlefish that had been born just last week. It was stressful - this was her first time dealing with hatchlings alone now that she had moved from intern to aquarist, and she knew that no matter how determined she was to ensure they all did well, not all of them were going to make it. She made the most of the time she had with them all anyway and had even started to give them names. It was like she was taking care of a hundred tiny children.

She did a last minute sweep of the room before shouldering her bag and leaving, heading through the aquarium itself so she could take a look inside the cephalopod tanks and note whether there was anything she needed to report to Nayoung in the morning. She checked the squids first, then the nautiluses and the cuttlefish before finally moving onto the octopus tanks. They had two females on display, Brizo and Ceto. Eunwoo spotted Brizo straight away, hiding under a rock at the front of the tank. Ceto on the other hand, was nowhere to be found. She looked for a while - octopuses did live a life of camouflage after all - but after ten minutes with no luck, Eunwoo huffed and headed round to the staff door to check the top of the tank in case she was hiding up there. Ceto was known amongst the staff as the more troublesome of the two - she was very clingy and Eunwoo had watched Nayoung wrestle (literally) with Ceto’s suckers to get her back in her tank.

It was past feeding time, but Eunwoo headed to one of the mini freezers anyway and scooped up a load of shrimp to pour into the tank in the hopes that it would draw Ceto out from her hiding place. As soon as Eunwoo knew she was fine, she would leave. She was aware she was being super paranoid, but one of her worst nightmares was that one of the octopuses would somehow escape in the middle of the night and end up not only causing harm to themselves but the other animals in the cephalopod exhibit. They were clever creatures, Eunwoo didn’t put it past Ceto to make an attempt.

It was a few minutes later that Eunwoo noticed a flash of red and she breathed a sigh of relief.

“Come on Ceto,” She said, “I’ll give you a few extra scoops of shrimp tomorrow if you come out. Don’t tell Nayoung unnie though, she’ll kill me.”

There was another flash of red and Eunwoo frowned. Ceto was moving a lot faster than she normally did and although she was pretty big, there was no way her arms were that long. She leaned forward to try and get a closer look.

A face appeared in the water - one that wasn’t her own reflection - and Eunwoo screamed, jumping back. The shrimp shovel clattered to the floor as her hands flew to her mouth. There was someone _inside_ the octopus tank.

Eunwoo closed her eyes and took a step back. Great. This was just great. She was probably the only person left in the building besides the janitor and neither of them were equipped to deal with a situation like this (but then again, was anyone?). Eunwoo took a few deep breaths and opened her eyes, peering back into the tank. It took a few seconds, but then the face appeared again, swimming to the side of the tank and rising from the water.

Eunwoo was speechless. She didn’t know what to say or do - the girl in front of her looked like she could be one of their regulars, a bright smile on her face and long brown hair falling over her shoulders, only her bottom half was not human. Eunwoo could feel another scream starting to build up in her chest.

The girl - creature? - seemed to sense something was off, and the smile dropped from her face. She pulled herself up onto the rocks at the side, the arms of her octopus half still submerged in the water. She waved her hands at Eunwoo. “Don’t scream!” 

Eunwoo closed her eyes again. This had to be a dream. She was dreaming and when she woke up she’d be at home, warm in bed and Jieqiong would probably be making a mess in the kitchen. _This was a dream_. 

She pinched herself, opened her eyes and sighed deeply. The girl was still there. It was definitely not a dream.

“Who the hell are you and how did you get in here?” Eunwoo asked. She was debating on whether or not to pick up the shovel she’d dropped earlier to use as a weapon. Octopus suckers were strong and she would be damned if she was letting herself get dragged down to the depths of the tank by them.

“I’m Yebin.” The girl introduced herself with a smile. “Long story short, I decided a trip to land would be good for me and I stumbled across this lovely place and decided to explore!”

“Right,” Eunwoo said. She looked down into the water to see Ceto clinging to Yebin’s arms.

“I like her,” Yebin said. “She’s good company.”

“You know you can’t stay here, right?” Eunwoo asked her. “I mean, how did you even get into the aquarium in the first place?” Eunwoo was ninety percent sure that mermaids didn’t carry won around with them.

“I snuck in.” Yebin said with a wave of her hand. “I was only going to stay for a little while anyway, just until I’m ready to go back home.”

“You can’t stay in the aquarium,” Eunwoo repeated. “I don’t even know what would happen if someone came in tomorrow morning and spotted you in one of the tanks.”

“I’m good at hiding!” Yebin exclaimed. “Look!” Yebin pointed at her octopus arms as they began to change colour, shifting so that they were the same brown as the rocks.

“That’s great, but what about your top half?” Eunwoo asked. Visitors would probably be more traumatised by the sight of half of a body in the tanks than they would a mermaid - assuming that’s what Yebin was, Eunwoo had never seen mermaid’s portrayed with octopus arms before, but she supposed that was because mermaids weren’t supposed to be _real_. 

Yebin just smiled, sinking back into the water and pressing the rest of her body to the rocks. She slowly began to change colour until her top half was camouflaged too. Eunwoo closed her eyes again and took in a deep breath. The sight of a rock with eyes was a little creepy.

“Okay.” Eunwoo said, “Get out. You’re coming back with me.”

Yebin leapt out of the water, her skin colour shifting back to normal. “I am?” She asked.

“I can’t leave you here,” Eunwoo told her. She paused and pointed at Yebin’s body. She had some makeshift seaweed bra of sorts on at the moment, and Eunwoo wondered if that was just magically part of her mermaid appearance or whether she had to make herself a new one every time she got back into water. “Am I going to have to get you some clothes?”

Yebin didn’t look up from stroking Ceto’s red head as she spoke. “There’s some hidden behind the back of that cabinet. I came prepared, don’t worry. Not all us merfolk are clueless about life on land.”

Eunwoo looked behind the cabinet and sure enough there was a t-shirt and a pair of jeans screwed up in a ball. No shoes or underwear though. “Where did you get these?” Eunwoo asked.

“I stole them,” Yebin with a smile and Eunwoo wished she’d never asked.

It took a while, but Yebin eventually managed to peel Ceto’s suckers from her arms and set her down on the rock. She swung her lower half around and perched herself on the rock, dripping water out onto the floor. 

“I don’t suppose you have something I could dry myself off with do you?” Yebin asked.

It was another hour before Eunwoo made it out of the aquarium. After letting Yebin dry herself off and change into her clothes, Eunwoo had searched her locker for a spare pair of shoes that she could wear on the way back. The best she could come up with was a pair of flip flops that Eunwoo had forgotten she even owned. Eunwoo did one last sweep of the tanks before she headed out for the night, Yebin on her heels.

Luck didn’t seem to be on her side - her bus wasn’t due for another twenty minutes and it was freezing outside. Eunwoo was wrapped up in a jacket and scarf and still felt chilly, but Yebin seemed fine as she sat in the bus shelter, swinging her legs back and forth in a pair of too small jeans, a t-shirt and goddamn flip flops.

The sound of Eunwoo’s phone ringing drew Yebin’s attention, and she watched in confusion as Eunwoo pulled her phone from her pocket and answered it. It was Jieqiong, and no wonder, Eunwoo was supposed to have been back hours ago.

“Hey, are you okay? It’s getting late,” Jieqiong asked as soon as she answered.

“I’m on my way back now, just waiting for the bus,” Eunwoo explained, glancing at Yebin. How exactly was she supposed to explain her to Jieqiong?

“Oh okay, I was starting to worry,” Jieqiong laughed. “Thought maybe you’d fallen in a tank or something.”

Eunwoo snorted. If only it were as simple as that. 

“There’s some leftovers in the fridge if you want them, I’ll see you when you get back,” Jieqiong told her.

“Okay, thank you, bye.” Eunwoo hung up and sighed.

“We need to come up with some sort of story as to how we met so that my roommate doesn’t get suspicious,” Eunwoo told her. She ran through all the options she could think of. Childhood friends? Distant relations?

“Just say I’m visiting for the week,” Yebin shrugged.

“You don’t have any clothes with you,” Eunwoo said. 

“Just pretend I dropped them off in your room earlier!” Yebin said.

“I think it’s going to be pretty obvious when you start wearing my clothes,” Eunwoo muttered. “Besides, who said you were staying with me for a week anyway? I’m only taking you back to mine because you can’t stay the night in the aquarium.”

“Oh come on,” Yebin got to her feet and clutched onto the sleeve of Eunwoo’s jacket. “I’ll be good! I won’t make much of a mess, I promise.”

“Fine,” Eunwoo sighed. There wasn’t much else she could do - it wasn’t like Yebin had any money to do anything about her situation, and Eunwoo wasn’t about to leave her out on the street to fend for herself. “A week.”

Yebin broke out into a bright smile. “Thank you! I’ll make it up to you, I promise,” She said.

 

By the time they reached her apartment, Eunwoo was exhausted. She was ready to head straight to bed, but Jieqiong was still awake and there was no way Eunwoo was just going to be able to sneak Yebin into her room without Jieqiong noticing.

“You’re back!” Jieqiong said as soon as she spotted Eunwoo. She did a double take when she noticed Yebin, and Eunwoo glanced to the side to see Yebin smiling at her.

“Uh, this is Yebin. She’s an old friend,” Eunwoo said. She nudged Yebin in the side, and she bowed in greeting. “She’s going to be stopping in my room for a few days.”

“Okay,” Jieqiong nodded. From the look she gave Eunwoo, she definitely had more to say, but instead she just picked up her drink from the counter. “I’m headed to bed, I just wanted to stay up until you got back. I’ll see you in the morning. Nice to meet you Yebin.”

“Nice to meet you too,” Yebin replied.

As soon as Jieqiong disappeared into her room, Yebin turned to Eunwoo. “She seems nice.”

Eunwoo hummed. “Are you hungry?” She asked, before pausing. “What do you even eat?”

“Seafood,” Yebin said.

“Asides from seafood,” Eunwoo said.

Yebin shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve not had human food before.”

“Great,” Eunwoo said, dumping her bag on the kitchen floor before she proceeded to ransack the cupboards and the fridge. They had to have some seafood somewhere.

After much searching, Eunwoo managed to find some frozen crab at the back of the freezer. Yebin took a seat at the table and watched as she cooked the meat. Eunwoo felt a little bad as she just handed Yebin a plate full of crab, but she didn’t want to risk giving her something like rice when she didn’t know how Yebin’s stomach was going to react - there was only one toilet in the apartment and she was not prepared for the possible explosive consequences. Yebin didn’t seem to care anyway, she tucked right in and Eunwoo sat and watched her from across the table, picking at her own food.

When it came to going to bed, Eunwoo was a little unsure of what to do. She didn't want to have to resign herself to sleeping on the sofa for the next week. She handed Yebin a clean pair of pyjamas and left her to change, escaping to the bathroom to wash her face. 

“What are you doing?”

Eunwoo jumped, clutching her hand to her chest. “Please,” She said, turning to Yebin, “Stop scaring me like that.”

“Sorry,” Yebin said, but with the grin on her face, Eunwoo got the feeling she really wasn't. 

“I’m doing my night routine,” Eunwoo told her. 

Yebin watched her for a few moments before she followed along cleaning her face with a wipe and picking up the moisturiser once Eunwoo was done using it. Eunwoo was in the middle of putting toothpaste on her brush, and she sighed, balancing it on the counter before taking the moisturiser from Yebin and squeezing some into her palm. “You rub it on your face.” 

Yebin watched as Eunwoo brushed her teeth. “I don’t have a spare toothbrush for you to use. Do mermaids even brush their teeth?”

“We don’t use those,” Yebin said, pointing at the brush. “We have these foamy things instead that you just chew.”

“Oh? I’m sure they sell something similar to that on land,” Eunwoo said. Did they get the idea from mermaids? How many products out there were created because someone had taken inspiration from products that mermaids had? There must be thousands of mermaids living amongst humans. The questions were endless and Eunwoo could feel a headache coming on just from thinking about them. “I’ll see if I can buy you some tomorrow. In the meantime you could… just use your fingers?”

After another fifteen minutes in the bathroom tidying up after Yebin made a mess, Eunwoo trudged back into her room.

“You can take the bed,” Eunwoo said, opening her closet door and pulling out a few of the dozen blankets she stored there, dumping them on the floor.

“Are you sure? This is your room… we can share?” Yebin sat on the edge of the bed, watching as Eunwoo left to steal a pillow from the sofa to add to her makeshift bed.

“It’s fine,” Eunwoo waved a hand at her, “I mean, you’re only staying for like a week, right? I can deal with a week on the floor.”

“Okay,” Yebin said. She watched as Eunwoo climbed under her blankets and did the same, pulling back the duvet and lying down.

“Goodnight,” Eunwoo said, switching off her desk lamp and plunging her room into darkness.

“Goodnight,” Yebin replied, a quiet whisper in the dark.

.

Eunwoo woke up to the sound of her alarm blaring right beside her ear. With a groan she rolled over, burying her face into her pillow. Her entire body ached. The floor was not comfy. 

She glanced over at her bed to see it empty. Eunwoo sat up and frowned, noticing the bedroom door was open. She shuffled out of her room and into the kitchen to see Yebin sat talking with Jieqiong at the kitchen table. 

“Morning,” Yebin greeted Eunwoo with a grin. She had a mug of something in her hands and Eunwoo crossed her fingers that it was just water. She was ready to blame Jieqiong if it wasn’t and Yebin spent the entire day locked in the bathroom.

“Morning,” Eunwoo said, sitting down at the table. “Do you not want breakfast?” 

Yebin shrugged. “Not that hungry at the minute,” She answered. 

Eunwoo glanced over at Jieqiong and wondered if the reason Yebin wasn’t eating anything was because she was there. Eunwoo stood up to prepare herself breakfast anyway, putting rice into the cooker and turning on the hob before she turned back to Yebin.

“Do you want me to make you something anyway? That way you can eat it later if you’re hungry,” Eunwoo said and Yebin nodded, so she headed to the fridge to pull out what remained of the crab from the previous day. She made a mental note to stop at the shop before she headed home after work - she was going to have to stock up on seafood.

Jieqiong eventually left for work leaving the two of the alone. “I can’t take you to work so you’re going to have to stay here,” Eunwoo said.

Yebin pouted. “I wanted to see the octopods.”

“You’re not authorised to be back there. Even if you went in as a visitor you couldn’t spent the whole day just in that exhibit, security would probably start to get suspicious.”

“Then what should I do with my time?” Yebin asked.

“Well, we have a TV. I can show you how to work it, you could watch movies, read, anything. I’ll make sure to cook extra crab so you have something to snack on during the day. If Jieqiong gets back before I do and she decides to order in, you can ask her to get seafood, if you want. Or I could come back after work and we can go to the shops, you can pick out more food then if you’d like.”

“Okay,” Yebin said. Eunwoo set a plate of crab down on the table in front of her. “I can do that.”

Eunwoo had her reservations but she decided to give Yebin the benefit of the doubt. Surely nothing _that_ bad could happen in the eight hours she was gone. She watched as Yebin devoured her food with a set of sharp teeth that she hadn’t noticed the night before.

Maybe she should teach Yebin how to use the phone too, as a last resort, just in case.


	2. Chapter 2

Eunwoo should have known not to trust Yebin when she said she would only be staying for a week. It had been just over two weeks now, and Yebin had made herself at home in the apartment, with her own shelf in the bathroom and a section for her clothes in Eunwoo’s wardrobe. 

Whilst the past few weeks had been a bit chaotic - Yebin was curious about _everything_ \- it had been nice. Yebin was good company. She would sit and talk for hours about the sea and what life was like as a mermaid and was equally enthusiastic to learn about what it was like living on land - Eunwoo had taught her how to cook, Yebin could now successfully travel into town without Eunwoo worrying that she was going to get lost or arrested and she could work all sorts of technology (Eunwoo had made a joke about Yebin being able to get a ‘shell-phone’ of her own after she taught her how to work a mobile and Yebin had just stared at her, deadpan whilst Eunwoo laughed at her own joke).

There was one thing. Yebin was always vague whenever Eunwoo asked her about her home and personal life, always brushing it off and changing the subject. Eunwoo didn’t want to ask Yebin outright whether or not there was something preventing her from going home, she didn’t want to make her feel as though she wasn’t wanted. Eunwoo just had to wait it out. If Yebin wanted to tell her, she would tell her when she was ready.

.

“Do you have any plans this weekend?” Jieqiong asked.

“No, why?” Eunwoo asked, looking up from her notes. Work had been busy over the last couple of days, they’d had a bunch of baby squids born, and Eunwoo had ended up bringing her paperwork home with her so that she wasn’t stuck in the aquarium till past midnight.

“Siyeon wants to meet up,” Jieqiong said, glancing down at her phone. “She said, ‘stop being recluses and come and have fun for once’.”

“Lovely,” Eunwoo muttered. “We should definitely go though. I don’t even remember the last time I saw her.”

Jieqiong nodded. “Do you want to invite Yebin? I feel like it’s a mean to just leave her here alone. Besides, it would be nice for her to meet the others, especially if she’s staying for a little while longer.”

Eunwoo leaned back on her chair to peer into the living room. Unsurprisingly, Yebin was sat on the sofa, flicking through Netflix. Eunwoo regretted introducing her to it. Although it kept Yebin occupied during the day whilst she was home alone, she was definitely becoming addicted to it. Eunwoo had lost track of how many times she had come home to see her watching a new film or series. At least they were getting their money’s worth.

“Hey, Yebin,” Eunwoo called.

Yebin hummed.

“Fancy coming out to lunch with us and some of our friends this weekend?” Jieqiong asked.

“Sounds good!” Yebin said. She stuck her arm up and gave them a thumbs up, eyes still focused on the TV. Eunwoo and Jieqiong shared a look.

“I’ll let Siyeon know,” Jieqiong said, waving her phone and heading towards her room, leaving Eunwoo alone with her notes.

.

Eunwoo nudged Yebin in the side.

“Yeah?” Yebin said, after slurping up a piece of octopus from her chopsticks.

“Is that cannibalism?” Eunwoo asked, pointing at her plate.

Yebin stared at her.

“It’s a serious question!” Eunwoo exclaimed, trying to keep her voice quiet.

Yebin pursed her lips and then shrugged. “I’m a mermaid. Not an actual octopus, so no? Maybe? I don’t know. Some octopuses eat each other anyway, so I don’t really think it’s an issue.”

“Huh,” Eunwoo said, sitting back in her seat. “Interesting.”

“What are you two whispering about?” Siyeon asked.

“Nothing important,” Eunwoo said with a smile. Siyeon raised an eyebrow at them and turned back to talk to Yewon.

For the most part, things were going well. Eunwoo had taught Yebin enough that she could pass for human pretty well, and any small mistakes that she made could be brushed off of as moments of forgetfulness. Siyeon had been giving them both odd looks for the majority of the day though, and it made Eunwoo nervous - there was no way Siyeon could possible know about Yebin’s true nature, so why did she keep looking over at them? Eunwoo just tried to brush it off. The weirder she acted, the more suspicious Siyeon was going to get, and that was the last thing they needed.

Eunwoo hugged all her friends close when it was time for them to leave, and apologised for not meeting up with them sooner. “Don’t worry about it,” Siyeon said. “I know you’re busy with work and other things.” She glanced over at Yebin. “We’ll see you again soon, right?”

“Right,” Eunwoo replied.

 

Later that night, Jieqiong cornered Eunwoo in the bathroom. “You know Siyeon thinks you and Yebin are dating, right?” She said, and Eunwoo almost choked on her toothpaste. 

She spat it out into the sink and stared at Jieqiong through the mirror. “What?”

Jieqiong shrugged. “I mean I can see why she thinks so. You’re both pretty clingy with each other, and you’re always whispering stuff to one another. You know you could tell me if you are, right? I wouldn’t be mad about it or anything.”

“We’re not dating,” Eunwoo told her. “I would definitely have told you if that was the case.”

“Okay,” Jieqiong said. “Maybe let Siyeon know before she starts asking you why you never told her you had a girlfriend. I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Yeah,” Eunwoo said, drying off her face. “Goodnight.”

Jieqiong left, and Eunwoo shook her head. At least now she knew why Siyeon had been staring at them. She would have to text her in the morning and let her know. Did it really look like they were dating?

By the time Eunwoo made her way back to her room. Yebin was already in bed, covers pulled up to her neck and eyes closed. She wasn’t asleep though, she didn’t seem to sleep much at all. In the morning, she was always up before Eunwoo was and there had been a few times in the middle of the night where Eunwoo had nearly rolled off the bed in fright because Yebin had lying with her eyes open.

They’d been sharing her bed for at least a week now. Yebin had insisted that Eunwoo needed the best night’s sleep possible to make sure she was ready for work, and that wouldn’t happen if she continued sleeping on the floor or the blow up bed she had bought a few days after Yebin arrived. Eunwoo had protested at first, but she gave in eventually. She did sleep a lot better in her bed, even if it meant she and Yebin sometimes ended up cuddling in their sleep.

That night, when Eunwoo climbed into bed and Yebin threw an arm over her waist, she immediately thought about what Jieqiong had said. They were pretty clingy with one another, but Yebin seemed to be that way with everyone - with Eunwoo and Jieqiong, with waiters and waitresses, with cashiers in the store - Yebin was naturally talkative and touchy. Eunwoo hadn’t thought anything of it.

She fell asleep to the sound of Yebin snoring lightly beside her.

.

It was storming badly when Eunwoo left work. She groaned and pulled the hood of her jacket down over her face as she ran to the bus stop. She should have listened to Nayoung and brought her umbrella - for days she had been saying that the weather was going to take a turn for the worst and she’d been right. By the time she got home, she was drenched. She jogged down the pavement, clutching her bag to her chest.

When she got the gate, Eunwoo paused. Yebin was sat on the front step of the apartment, chin in her hands as she stared up at the sky. The ledge over the door was doing little to keep her dry, and she was only wearing a thin t-shirt and pyjama shorts.

“You must be freezing,” Eunwoo said as she approached her.

“It’s not that bad,” Yebin said, shrugging her shoulders.

Eunwoo frowned. “Why are you sat outside?”

“I just wanted to be out in the rain,” Yebin said.

“You’re going to catch a cold,” Eunwoo told her. She offered Yebin her hand. “Come on. I’ll run you a bath and get you something warm to drink.”

Yebin took it, and Eunwoo led her inside quickly. She ushered Yebin into the bathroom and ran her a bath, leaving out a small tub of sea salt they’d started keeping in one of the cupboards on the side. They had figured Yebin could turn if she poured some into the bath, but she didn’t get to use it often, what with Jieqiong being home most of the time. She was away visiting family this week though, and Yebin seemed like she could do with some familiarity for a few hours. When the bath was full, Eunwoo handed Yebin a towel and left.

Eunwoo headed to her own room, stripping out of her wet clothes and putting on some pyjamas instead. She cleaned up the water they had trailed across the floor and started the kettle so that she could make them some hot chocolate. 

“So,” Eunwoo said, once they were both settled on the sofa. Yebin looked a little better now, a mug of hot chocolate in her hands. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Yebin sighed and looked into her mug. “I miss home,” She admitted. “The rain reminded me of when I would swim to the surface and watch what was happening on land. When I left, I wasn’t really thinking about what I was doing. I just wanted to get away for a while.”

“Then why don’t you go back?” Eunwoo asked her.

“I’m nervous that things won’t be the same,” She said. “Nervous that I won’t be able to come back. I had a big argument with my parents and my friends when I left. I wanted to come to land and to travel and they all thought it was a bad idea, that it was dangerous and I would get myself killed. So I did it anyway, just to prove them wrong.”

“They were probably just worried about you,” Eunwoo said. “I mean, it could have been pretty dangerous if I hadn’t have found you.”

“I know,” Yebin said. “I should probably go back soon. I just needed to take some time for myself and clear my head.”

“Well, you’re welcome to stay as long as you like.” Eunwoo said. “There’s no rush.”

“I don’t want to intrude much longer though,” Yebin said, glancing over at Eunwoo. “I’m sleeping in your bed, eating all of your food…”

“Don’t be silly,” Eunwoo said. “I love having you here. It’s been really fun. You’ve opened my eyes.”

Yebin smiled at her. “Really?”

Eunwoo nodded. “I’ll miss you when you leave. Jieqiong will too.”

“I’ll miss you both too. And your house and just everything. It’s definitely been an experience.” Yebin said.

“Do you think you’ll be able to come back and visit?” Eunwoo asked.

“I’d like to,” Yebin said. “I’m definitely going to try to.”

“I’ll be waiting for you,” Eunwoo said. “Promise.”

.

Things soon returned to normal. Jieqiong got back from her trip, and Yebin was back to watching Netflix and eating all the cereal in the house. Eunwoo didn’t ask Yebin when she planned on leaving, but she got the feeling it would be soon, so she made the most of the days they had left. Eunwoo took her to a dessert shop in town and to the aquarium so that they could walk around it together properly.

It was an almost a week later that Yebin sat them both down to tell them she planned on leaving at the end of the week. Even though Eunwoo had known the time was growing closer, it still hurt to think about Yebin leaving. Now there was a date set, it was definite, and Eunwoo felt worse.

“I’ll miss you,” Jieqiong said, pulling Yebin into a hug. “We should throw you a goodbye party or something and make your last day a memorable one.”

“A goodbye party?” Yebin said.

“Yeah! We could get party hats, a cake and play games,” She said, listing everything off on her fingers. “What do you think?”

“Sounds like it could be fun,” Yebin nodded.

“Great!” Jieqiong clapped her hands together. “I’ll start looking for stuff tomorrow. This is going to be the best goodbye party you’ll ever have, trust me.”

.

Jieqiong sent Eunwoo and Yebin out to get food whilst she decorated the apartment. When they returned, Jieqiong met them at the door wearing a party hat. She held one out to each of them. “No party hat, no entry to the party premises,” She declared.

Yebin happily complied, putting on her hat and racing into the front room to get a look at the rest of the decorations. Eunwoo was less keen and Jieqiong ended up putting the hat on for her before she took the food from Eunwoo’s hands and ushered her into the other room.

Jieqiong had really gone all out. The walls were decorated with bunting and sparkly banners and there was a cake on the coffee table. Yebin looked in awe as she sat down and surveyed the room. Eunwoo and Jieqiong exchanged smiles as they watched her.

According to Jieqiong’s party rota, food was first. She’d put together a music playlist of all the songs that Yebin had learnt the words to play in the background during the party games (Twister - a classic that Yebin somehow managed to win. Eunwoo put it down to the fact that normally, she had ten arms, not two). They cut themselves too big slices of cake and chatted until it got dark.

“I think I’m going to head to bed,” Jieqiong said from where she was sprawled on the floor. “I’m so full.”

“So am I,” Yebin said, patting her stomach. “Thank you, both of you, for doing this for me.”

Yebin stood and pulled Jieqiong into a hug, kissing her on the cheek.

“It’s no problem,” Jieqiong told her. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Night!” 

After Jieqiong headed into her room, Yebin sat back on the sofa and wrapped an arm around Eunwoo’s neck, pulling her close. “Thank you,” She said, leaning back to kiss Eunwoo on the check.

“It’s fine,” Eunwoo told her, flustered.

Yebin snuggled closer, resting her head on Eunwoo’s shoulder. They stayed that way for a little longer, until Eunwoo nudged Yebin gently. “Time for bed?” She asked.

Yebin yawned. “Time for bed,” She agreed.

.

Yebin’s last day was a quiet one. She slept in for the first time since she’d been at the apartment, and Eunwoo and Jieqiong put together a big breakfast that mostly consisted of leftover cake from the night before. 

Eunwoo and Yebin had decided to leave in the evening, telling Jieqiong that she had a late flight. That way the beach would be empty, and there was less chance of someone calling the coast guard because they had seen someone run naked into the ocean.

They left just as it started to turn dark. Yebin pulled Jieqiong into a long hug as they said their goodbyes.

“Come back soon,” Jieqiong told her and Yebin smiled.

“I’ll try,” Yebin promised.

Yebin linked arms with Eunwoo as they walked down to the beach. It was cold out, and Eunwoo shivered as Yebin pulled her along the sand.

“Well,” Yebin said, staring at the ocean. “This is it.”

“Yeah,” Eunwoo sighed.

Yebin turned to her and smiled, taking Eunwoo’s hands in her own. “I’m glad you were the one who found me,” She said.

“Ah,” Eunwoo said, glancing away. She could feel herself starting to tear up and the last thing she wanted to do was to start crying.

“I’m serious! These past few weeks have been really fun for me and I don’t think I could have experienced anything like this if I met someone else that day.” Yebin told her.

“I’m glad you think so,” Eunwoo told her. “I’m going to miss having you around.”

“Me too,” Yebin said. “You, Jieqiong, the food, Netflix, everything.”

Eunwoo snorted and Yebin grinned at her.

“Promise me one thing?” Yebin asked.

“Yeah?”

“Promise you won’t forget me,” Yebin said, holding out her pinky finger.

“How could I ever forget?” Eunwoo said, linking their pinkies together. “I promise. You have to promise not to forget me too.”

“I won’t” Yebin said. “I’m going to try and come back as soon as I can. You’ll have to hide some clothes for me somewhere on the beach, okay? Walking naked through the streets is definitely not something I want to do. Can you imagine me turning up at your door naked and scaring the life out of Jieqiong?”

“Oh my god,” Eunwoo laughed. “I’ll try.”

Yebin squeezed Eunwoo’s hands in hers and pulled her close for a big hug. “I’ll see you soon,” Yebin said, kissing her cheek and then stepping back. “No peeping.”

Yebin started to strip off, and Eunwoo scrambled to pull the towel from her bag to cover Yebin. When she was done, Eunwoo passed her the towel and picked up Yebin’s clothes from the sand, shoving them into her bag. They walked down to the water’s edge and Yebin giggled as the water washed over her feet.

“Okay,” Yebin said. “Say hello to Brizo and Ceto for me?”

“Of course,” Eunwoo laughed.

Yebin dragged her toes through the water and then looked back up at Eunwoo with a sad smile. “Time to go then.” She passed Eunwoo the towel and rushed forward into the water. “It’s cold!” She yelled and Eunwoo couldn’t help but laugh as she watched Yebin swim out, away from the shallows.

She disappeared for a little while, and then resurfaced, waving at Eunwoo. “I’ll see you soon!” Yebin shouted.

“I’ll be waiting!” Eunwoo responded, waving back and laughing as she watched Yebin wave her octopus arms in the air too. 

Then she was gone. 

Eunwoo lingered for a while longer, sitting down on the sand and watching the waves. She knew Yebin wasn’t coming back, that she was gone for good, but she stayed just in case. 

She would have to start coming to the beach more often. Listening to the sound of the waves was calming. Knowing that Yebin was out there somewhere in a world hidden in the depths made her smile. For the first time in a while, Eunwoo felt at peace.

**Author's Note:**

> \- [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYK2i2tR7gU) is the giant pacific octopus and [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1KFCCUfYkw) is the job eunwoo has  
> \- brizo and ceto are named after ancient greek water deities.. i was trying to look for korean water deities but i couldn't rlly find much T_T
> 
> support ur local aquariums and help further ocean research n conservation !!!!!!


End file.
